How much VRAM does Ministral 3 8B need?

Ministral 3 8B (8B parameters) requires approximately 9.7 GB of memory with Q4_K_M quantization.

What is the best quantization for Ministral 3 8B?

The recommended quantization for Ministral 3 8B is Q4_K_M, which balances quality and memory efficiency.

Can it run?

Yes, Intel Arc B580 12GB can run Ministral 3 8B with a B grade (Runs well). Expected decode speed: 67.3 tok/s.

BGood

Runs well

Using Q4_K_M in vLLM

Capabilities:

Fit status

Runs well

Decode

67.3 tok/s

TTFT

2878 ms

Safe context

20K

Memory

9.7 GB / 12.0 GB

Weights4.9 GB

KV Cache1.3 GB

Runtime2.4 GB

Headroom1.2 GB

Workload	Grade	Fit	Decode	TTFT	Context
Agentic Coding	C	Tight fit	44.9 tok/s	6278 ms	35K
Chat	C	Runs well	44.9 tok/s	2354 ms	10K
Coding	B	Runs well	67.3 tok/s	2878 ms	20K
RAG	C	Tight fit	44.9 tok/s	7848 ms	35K
Reasoning	C	Runs well	44.9 tok/s	5101 ms	20K

How Ministral 3 8B (8B params) fits at each quantization level on Intel Arc B580 12GB (12.0 GB usable).

Quant	Bits	VRAM	Quality	Fit
Q2_K	2	3.1 GB	Low	D34
Q3_K_S	3	3.9 GB	Low	D36
NVFP4	4

HuggingFace

huggingface-cli download ministral-3-8b

Upgrade options

RX 9070 16GBBudget pick

C81.3 tok/s decode

~$479 MSRP

RX 7800 XT 16GBBest value

C79.3 tok/s decode

~$499 MSRP

RTX 4070 Ti Super 16GBBiggest leap